Method for printing and verifying authentication documents

ABSTRACT

A system and method for printing images for use in an authentication document from a plurality of different printers and/or capture devices. Each of the plurality of different printers and/or capture device having a unique ID. The images are printed on an authentication document with the unique ID. The system provides for verification that the presenter of an authentication document. The unique ID and/or other information may be provided in a form that is not visible under normal viewing conditions. By canning the image the unique ID may be obtained and used for authentication. The obtained ID may be compared with a known information stored at a database for confirming that the presenter of the authentication document is the individual to whom it was issued.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a divisional patent application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/558,117filed Apr. 25, 2000 now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the printing and verification ofauthentication documents such as passports, licenses and other officialpapers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

To obtain a passport, the user submits two hardcopy images of themselvesalong with a proof of identity to the passport-issuing agency. If theuser is not personally known to the acceptance agent, proof of identityis required. Proof of identity can be a previously issued passport, acommercially issued document such as a bearer document, a Certificate ofNaturalization, a driver's license, or a Government Issue Identity cardor pass. The user can send, via the U.S. Postal Service, the two hardcopy images and proof of identity to the passport-issuing agency. Inaddition to proof of identity the passport-issuing agency requires proofof citizenship such as a certified birth certificate or previouslyissued passport. The reason for the proof of identity and proof ofcitizenship is to insure that the image on the passport is an authenticimage of the person carrying the passport. By use of the term“authentic” it is meant that the image can indicate to a viewer or areader with a high degree of certainty that the image has not beentampered with or changed. Digital technologies enable a user to captureand digitize a self-image for use on a passport. When the image is inthe form of a hardcopy print or photographic negative, the image can bedigitized by scanning the print or photographic negative to obtain imagedata which is then stored as an image file on a computer. The user'simage can also be captured using a digital camera such as a KODAK DC290Zoom Digital Camera or a KODAK Professional DCS 660 and then the imagefile can be loaded directly into a computer.

Digital printers such as KODAK PS 8650 Color Printer or a KODAK PhotoPrinter 4700 are capable of digitally printing an image from the storedimage file. Prints produced using printers such as those listed above,have been deemed acceptable for use on passports. When an image isprinted digitally, additional data can be encrypted into the image. Theencryption is accomplished by using pixels in the image itself to encodespecific information. This method of encrypting information is disclosedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,920 to Scott J. Daly et al, U.S. Pat. No.5,905,819 to Scott J. Daly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,639 to Chris W.Honsinger et al, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,516 to Chris W. Honsinger etal,

Another method incorporating additional information into a digitallyprinted image is to print the added information using inks or dyes thatare not visible or scannable under normal viewing conditions. These inksor dyes are viewable or capable of being scanned under special lightingconditions such as infrared or UV lights. Eastman Chemical Company underthe trade name N.I.R.F. (near-infrared fluorophore) inks sellsappropriate suitable ink for placement of the information.

Digital printing technologies allow images to be printed from digitalfiles stored on servers. The passport image files can be downloaded toremote viewing locations on demand. Commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/359,152, filed Jul. 22, 1999, entitled“Authorizing the Printing of Digital Images” by Patton et al describes amethod for sending a digital image file to an authorizing agency.

A problem is that the methods currently used to produce passports do notprovide a method for directly linking the image on the passport and theinformation on the passport. Currently there is nothing contained in theimage such as a code or encrypted message to link the image to thepassport. Hence, linking it to the person carrying the passport.Therefore it is possible to remove one image from the passport andreplaced with a different image.

The present invention is directed to authentication document and amethod for producing them, which overcome the problems of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is providedan authentication document comprising;

an image associated with the holder of the authentication document;

a first indicia placed in the image which is not visible under normalviewing conditions, the first indicia comprising a unique ID associatedwith the device used to print the image; and

a second indicia comprising the unique ID associated with the image; and

a third indicia comprising a unique ID associated with a printer used toprint the image.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there isprovided an authentication document comprising a first image thereon,the image having an indicia which is not visible under normal viewingconditions, the indicia capable of confirming the appropriate person towhich to the document has been issued.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of theinvention presented below, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a hardcopy print made in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a passport made in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a system for printing and verifying ofpassports and other authentic documents; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 together illustrate a flowchart of a system for capturinga passport image.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a system for verifying a passportimage.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart of a system for verifying an image of aperson.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present description will be directed in particular to elementsforming part of, or in cooperation more directly with, the apparatus inaccordance with the present invention. It is understood that elementsnot specifically shown or described may take various forms well known tothose skilled in the art.

Now referring to FIG. 1 there is illustrated a plan view of a hardcopyprint 10 (such as a photograph) made in accordance with the presentinvention for use in verifying passports and other authenticationdocuments. In the embodiment, the print 10 has an indicia area 20including a first invisible indicia 30 in the form of a name. The nameidentifies the person in the print 10. The indicia area 20 includessecond invisible machine-readable indicia 40 in the form of a documentidentification number such as the passport number linked to the name inindicia 30. The first and second indices 30 and 40 respectively confirmthat the person in the print 10 is the person belonging to the passportor document. The print 10 has a third indicia in the indicia area 40consisting of a unique identification number 50.

Now referring to FIG. 2 there is illustrated a plan view of anauthentication document 60 made in accordance with the presentinvention. In the embodiment illustrated the authentication document isa passport issued by a governmental authority to an individual. Print 10appearing on the passport 60 is linked to the name 70 a and 70 b printedon the authentication document 60 by the information contained in theindicia area 20. The information including a first, second and thirdinvisible indices 30, 40, and 50 respectively ensure the print 10 usedis an authentic image of the person to which the passport 60 was issued.The identification number 40 may be the passport number 80 a and 80 bprinted on the authentication document 60. The unique identificationnumber 50 may be printed somewhere on the passport in a field of numbers85 in a manner that is not discernable without knowing the number'sexact location. The exact location of the identification number 50 maybecontained in the identification number 50 itself. The box 90 illustratesthe location of the identification number 50 in the number field 80.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a schematic diagram of asystem for printing and verifying of authentication documents such as apassport made in accordance with the present invention. A uniqueidentification number 50 placed on the authentication document can beused to identify a camera 120 a or 120 b or any other image capturedevice used to capture an image 125 of a person 130. The cameras 120 aand 120 b each have their own unique identification numbers 115 a and115 b respectively which can be linked through an algorithm to eachimage that is captured using the specific camera. The uniqueidentification number 50 may also be used to identify a printer 135 a,135 b, 135 c, and 135 d used to produce the hardcopy print 10. Theprinters 135 a, 135 b, 135 c, and 135 d each have their own uniqueidentification number 155 a, 155 b, 155 c, 155 d respectively which canbe linked through an algorithm to each print that is printed using thespecific printer. The unique identification number 50 may also be usedto identify the remote location 145 and 140 where the image 125 wascaptured or the print 10 was printed respectively. The uniqueidentification number 50 may further be used to identify the combinationof the camera 120 a used to take the image, the printer 135 a used toproduce the print and the camera's and printer's locations. The camera120 a may be located at a location different from the printer 135 a orat the same location. The unique identification number 50 may further beused to identify the person 130, the camera 120 a used to take theimage, the printer 135 a used and their location. The first, second andthird indices 30, 40 and 50 respectively located in the indicia area 20are not capable of being scanned for reproduction by digital scanners.In printing the indices 30, 40 and 50 inks are used that is not capableof being scanned as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,730 to Gasper etal, but are capable of being read under special viewing conditions.

The image 125 of the person 130 is captured at a first remote location145 by the camera 120 a. The digital image 125 of the person 130 andassociated verifying information, document identification number 40 andunique identification number 50 is sent via a communications link 160such as the Internet to a central location 150. The digital image 125 ofthe person 130 along with the associated verifying information, documentidentification number 40 and unique identification number 50 is storedin digital format in memory 95 on a server 110. The associated verifyinginformation is comprised of but not limited to proof of identity and theimage can be viewed on a monitor 100 at the central location 150. It maybe desirable upon receiving the digital image file with it's associateddata to combine the different identification numbers into one newidentification number using an algorithm running on the server 110. Thealgorithm can combine or modify the document identification number 40and unique identification numbers for the camera, printer and theirlocations to create a new unique identification which can be linked tothe stored image 125.

In the case where the person 130 submits a previously printed hardcopyimage 175 of themselves for use in the authentication documents, such aspassports and other similar authentic documents, the hardcopy image 175is scanned using a digital scanner 180. The digital scanner is capableof reading encrypted information and/or data that printed with inks notvisible under normal viewing conditions as discussed above. The digitalimage 125 of the person 130 and encoded data that has been read is sentvia the communications link 160 to a central location 150 where theimage 125 along with the associated verifying information are stored indigital format on a server 110. As in the case where a camera is used tocapture the image the scanner 180 as well as its location can have aunique identification number 185 which can be linked to the digitalimage 125. The scanned digital image 125 can be viewed on a monitor 100at the central location 150.

When the person 130 uses the passport 60, at a remote location 190, thedocument identification number 40 is electronically transmitted assignals from a computer 200 at the remote location 190 to the server 110at the central location 150 over the communication channel 160. Thedocument identification number 40 identifies the digital image file ofthe person 130. The document identification number 40 also indicateswhere the file is located on the server 110 at the central location 150.The image 125 of the person 130 and associated verifying information isdisplayed on a monitor 100 at the central location 150. The digitalimage 125 can be transmitted from the central location 150 to the remotelocation 190 over the communications channel 160 (such as a phone line,secure communications link, or the internet) to the computer 200 wherethe digital image 125 is displayed on a monitor 210. The image 125 canbe compared directly to the person 130 using the passport 60 at theremote location 190.

The system of FIG. 3 can be operated in a number of another ways inaccordance with the present. For example, the passport 60 of the person130 is scanned at the remote location 190 on the scanner 180. Thescanned image, document identification number 40 and uniqueidentification number 50 which is not visible under normal viewingconditions are electronically transmitted as signals from a computer 200at the remote location 190 to the server 110 at the central location 150over the communication channel 160. The document identification number40 identifies the digital image file of the person 130 and where thefile is located on the server 110 at the central location 150. The image125 of the person 130 and associated verifying information is displayedon a monitor 100 at the central location 150 and is compared to thetransmitted image. A message is sent to the remote location 190indicating whether or not the picture 10 that is on the passport matchesthe digital image 125 stored on the server 110 at the central location150.

In yet another method operation of the system of FIG. 3 the passport'sunique identification number 50, which is not visible under normalviewing condition, is transmitted from the central location 150 to theremote location 190. The transmitted identification is compared to theunique identification number 50 encoded on the passport 60. When thepassport 60 is scanned using the scanner 180 at the remote location 190,the unique identification number 50 is displayed via the computer 200 onthe monitor 210. The scanner 180 has it's own unique identificationnumber 185. The methods described in the above embodiments may be usedto verify the identity of the person using the passport 60 or otherauthentication document such as a credit card, title, deed, ID card,lease, bond, certificate of deposit, bank account books, etc.

In the method of operating the system of FIG. 3 the digital image of theperson is captured at the remote location 190 using a digital camera220. The digital camera 220 is linked directly to the computer 200. Toverify the identity of the person 130 the captured digital image 125 istransmitted along with the unique identification number 50 from theremote location 190 to the central location 150 where it is compared tothe image stored on the server 110. One example is a person using acredit card. The image of the person using the credit card is capturedat the remote location and sent with the credit card number to thecentral location where the image filed with the credit card number beingused is compared to the captured image. The unique identification numbercan be but is not limited to a passport number, driver's license number,credit card number, airplane ticket number, school or college ID number,social security number, etc.

Now referring to both FIGS. 4 and 5 there is illustrated a flow chart ofa system for capturing an image for an authentic document in accordancewith the present invention. Starting with FIG. 4, the person 130 goes toa remote location 145 to have their image captured for use on a passport60 or other authentication document as shown in block 300. The user'simage 125 is captured digitally. In the embodiment illustrated the imageis captured using the digital camera 120 a or 120 b (such as a KODAKDC290 Zoom Digital Camera or a KODAK Professional DCS 660) having aunique identification number. The person's name and proof ofidentification are entered into the server's (database) 110 as shown in310 and 320 respectively. The identification number of camera 120 a or120 b respectively that is recorded is entered as shown in block 330.The unique identification number for the remote location 145 of thecameras is entered as shown in block 340. The unique documentidentification number 40 is created as shown in block 350 and the datais transmitted to the central location 150 as shown in block 360. Thedata transmitted from the remote location 145 at step 370 is received atthe central location 150.

Now flowing to FIG. 5 which flows from FIG. 4, the computer 110 at thecentral location 150 links the person's image 125 with all theidentification data as shown in block 380. The algorithm running on thecomputer 110 at the central location 150 creates a new uniqueidentification number 50 and links the proof of identification and image125 to the unique identification number 50 as shown in blocks 390 and400 respectively. The proof of identification image 125 and the uniqueidentification number 50 are stored in the server 110 at the centrallocation 150 as shown in block 410. The image 125, the unique documentidentification number 40 and the unique identification number 50 aretransmitted to the remote printing location 140 as shown in block 420.The remote location 140 prints the image 125 with the unique documentidentification number 40 and the unique identification number 50 on toan image to be part of or formed on an authentication document as shownin block 430. The authentication document is forwarded to the owner towhom it is issued. The remote location 140 transmits the unique printernumber of the printer that was used to print the image 155 a, 155 b, 155c, or 155 d and the printer location number to the central location 150as shown in blocks 440 and 450 respectively. The data from the remoteprinting location 140 is received at the central location 150 as shownin block 460. The server 110 at the central location 150 links theprinter and location numbers to the person's image 125 and other dataand stores all the unique identification numbers, image 125 and proof ofidentity in the server 110 as shown in blocks 470 and 480 respectively.

Referring back to FIG. 4, rather than using a camera 120 a or 120 b tocapture the image, the person 130 can submit a previously capturedhardcopy print 175 of himself or herself for scanning at the remotelocation 190 as shown in block 305. The scanned image 125 and the proofof identification flows through the same steps as the camera 120 a,captured image. In the case of the scanner each scanner 180 has it's ownunique identification number 185.

Now referring to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a flow chart of a systemfor verifying an authentication document. The authentication document 60is presented at a remote location 190 where the authenticationdocumentation 60 is scanned on a scanner 180 as shown in block 500. Theunique identification number 50 is displayed as part of the image 125 onthe monitor 210 along with the location of the unique identificationnumber 50 in the field of numbers 85 on the authentication document 60as shown in block 510. The operator at the remote location 190 comparesthe unique identification 50 displayed on the monitor 210 against thenumber indicated by the box 90 in the number field 85 as shown by thedecision block 520. If the numbers match, the remote location 190 allowsthe person 130 holding the authentication document 60 to pass as shownin block 610. If the numbers do not match, the appropriate action istaken as shown in block 530. If the numbers do match, the operator mayor may not decide to verify the image 10 on the passport 60 as shown indecision block 540. If the operator decides not to verify the image 10on the passport 60, the operator allows the person 130 holding thepassport 60 to pass as shown in block 610. If the operator decides toverify the image 10 on the passport 60, the scanned image 125 at theremote location 190 is transmitted with it's unique identificationnumber 50 to the central location 150 as shown in block 550. At thecentral location 150 the unique identification number 50 is used toretrieve the image 125 linked to that specific unique identificationnumber 50 from the server 110 as shown in block 560. The transmittedimage and retrieved image are viewed on the monitor 100 and compared asshown in block 570. If the images do not match as shown by decisionblock 580, the data and appropriate action to be taken is transmitted tothe remote location 190 as shown in block 590. The remote location 190receives the data and appropriate action is taken. For example, theperson 130 holding the passport 60 is not allowed to pass as shown inblock 600. If the images match, the remote location 190 receives thedata from the central location 150 and allows the person, 130 holdingthe authentication document 60 to pass as shown in block 610.

Now referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart of a system forverifying an image of a person. The digital image 125 of the person 130is captured at the remote location 190 using, for example, a digitalcamera 220 as shown in block 700. To verify the identity of the person130 the captured digital image 125 is transmitted along with the uniqueidentification number 50 from the remote location 190 to the centrallocation 150 as shown in block 710. The central location 150 using theunique identification number 50 locates and retrieves the person's image125 stored or the server 110 as shown by block 720.

The retrieved image 125 is displayed on a monitor 125 where it iscompared to the transmitted image 175 as shown in block 730. If theimages match as indicated by decision block 740, the data is transmittedto the remote location 190 as shown in block 750 and the person 130 isallowed to proceed with their action or transaction as shown by block760. If the images do not match as indicated by decision block 740, thedata is transmitted to the remote location 190 as shown in block 770 andthe person 130 is not allowed to proceed with their action ortransaction as shown by block 780.

While the image can be printed on a hard copy paper, which is then madea part of the authentication document, the image may be printed directlyon the authentication document. By recording the date at the time theimage 125 is captured and storing the capture date with the image 125 oras part of the image file on the server 110, the image 125 may bedownload and printed on time sensitive authentication documents.Examples of a time sensitive authentication documents are a driver'slicense, passports, national identification cards, etc. The ability todownload the user's image and print it directly on the time sensitiveauthentication document would eliminate the need for the user to go intothe DMV or passport office to renew the driver's license or passport.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference tocertain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be effected within the scope of thepresent invention, the present invention being defined by the followingclaims.

PARTS LIST

-   10 hardcopy print-   20 indicia area-   30 first indicia-   40 document identification number-   50 unique identification number-   60 passport-   70 a name-   70 b name-   80 a passport number-   80 b passport number-   85 number field-   90 box-   95 memory-   100 monitor-   110 server-   115 a and b camera identification number-   120 a and b camera-   125 digital image-   130 person-   135 a, b, c, printer-   140 remote location-   145 remote location-   150 central location-   155 a, b, c, d unique printer identification numbers-   160 communications link-   175 hardcopy image-   180 scanner-   185 scanner unique identification number-   190 remote location-   200 computer-   210 monitor-   220 digital camera-   300 block-   305 block-   310 block-   320 block-   330 block-   340 block-   350 block-   360 block-   370 block-   380 block-   390 block-   400 block-   410 block-   420 block-   430 block-   440 block-   450 block-   460 block-   470 block-   480 block-   500 block-   510 block-   520 decision block-   530 block-   540 decision block-   550 block-   560 block-   570 block-   580 decision block-   590 block-   600 block-   610 block-   700 block-   710 block-   720 block-   730 block-   740 decision block-   750 block-   760 block-   770 block-   780 block

1. An authentication document comprising: an image associated with theholder of said authentication document; a first indicia placed in saidimage which is not visible under normal viewing conditions, said firstindicia identifying the person in the image; and a second indicia placedin said image which is not visible under normal viewing conditionscomprising a document identification number; and a third indicia placedin said image which is not visible under normal viewing conditionscomprising a unique ID, said third indicia comprising: the identity ofthe person in the image; the identity of an image capture device; theidentity of an image printing device; and the location of each.
 2. Theauthentication document of claim 1, wherein the first indicia being thename of the person in the image.
 3. The authentication document of claim1, wherein the second indicia is a document identification number. 4.The authentication document of claim 3, wherein the documentidentification number is machine readable.
 5. The authenticationdocument of claim 1, wherein the second indicia is a passport number. 6.The authentication document of claim 1, wherein the second indicia is acredit card number.
 7. The authentication document of claim 1, whereinthe third indicia is machine-readable.
 8. The authentication document ofclaim 1, wherein the third indicia identifies an image capture device.9. The authentication document of claim 1, wherein the third indiciaidentifies an image printing device.
 10. The authentication document ofclaim 1, wherein the third indicia identifies a location where the imagewas captured.
 11. The authentication document of claim 1, wherein thethird indicia identifies a location where the image was printed.
 12. Theauthentication document of claim 1, wherein the third indicia identifiesthe person in the image.